By Bitcoin Suisse
In spring 2026, a single month produced a record 28 DeFi exploits along with the largest single crypto hack of the year.
A DeFi exploit is the abuse of a vulnerability in a decentralized finance protocol, that is, in the smart contracts that automatically execute financial services such as lending, trading, or staking on a blockchain. These protocols sometimes manage assets in the hundreds of millions.
Safer at the Core
At face value, the conclusion seems clear: DeFi is becoming less safe. However, a closer look at the numbers reveals two categories of attack whose trends are moving in opposite directions. One includes the year's largest single exploit. The other has become materially less damaging over time.
